This newest edition will track the form's evolution from such 1970s reinventions as Count Yorga Vampire and Blacula, The Hunger and Vampire's Kiss in the Eighties, Interview with the Vampire, Bram Stoker's Dracula, and the Blade series in the Nineties, through 30 Days of Night, I Am Legend, and the Underworld series in the first decade of the 21st century. All these films plus celebrated international examples such as Thirst and Let the Right One In and the hit television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, New Amsterdam, Angel, The Vampire Diaries, and True Blood are covered in this long-awaited, completely revised, expanded, and redesigned fourth edition that follows the vampire figures, both male and female, through the millennium and beyond.
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[Silver and Ursini] know how to write about movies... this book must be considered essential reading for the devotee of fantasy film. --Robert C. Cumbow, Movietone News
From the Author
This newest edition of The Vampire Film, now called The Vampire Film from Nosferatu to True Blood, has been updated and the typos from the earlier edition corrected. Professor Lampley, who wrote a review of the earlier edition (The Vampire Film from Nosferatu to Twilight) was of great help in correcting those typos.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
THE VAMPIRE FILM is the standard work on the subject, and it has been for more than 35 years. While there are many other good books about vampire movies, this one from Alain Silver and James Ursini is the one serious fans and scholars return to time and again. In fact, I will be teaching a course on vampire films this fall, and I have already selected this title for the required textbook (you're welcome, Alain and James!). The latest edition is current right up through last year (2010) and features the most exhaustive filmography I've ever seen. The illustrations are marvelous, including both publicity stills and posters/lobby cards and other movie promotion materials. There are many illos that I have never seen before, even from the older titles from Bela Lugosi and Hammer Films--and the ability to surprise this old-time horror man with pictures is very, very rare, indeed! Silver and Ursini have many excellent observations about vampires real and reel, and in literature and other media to boot. Of particular interest to me is the discussion of many obscure foreign and direct-to-video titles, especially those released in the last few years.
As great as this book is in many ways, it is not perfect. Evidently the authors had no time or interest in writing about TRUE BLOOD, so they brought in somebody else to contribute an essay on that popular and influential TV show. The essay is more or less okay in terms of being informative, but it is full of smart-ass jokes and snarky comments about the American South where the show is set. Such comments undermine the scholarly tone of the essay, and I personally find the digs at the South and Southerners offensive (calling a white Southerner a "Bubba" is pretty much equivalent to calling a black man a "buck," for those who don't know any better). While Silver and Ursini get away with a few effective light-hearted comments in the text itself, they allow way too many "funny" captions to comment on some of the illustrations, an unfortunate approach that at times recalls Forry Ackerman's worst puns in the heyday of FAMOUS MONSTERS. Some of the discussion of minor films consists of little more than extensive plot summaries, with little in the way of useful critical commentary; moreover,some minor titles get as much attention as major works, even when the minor titles aren't very good or interesting.
These are minor complaints, however, compared to the book's greatest failing: a shameful lack of careful proofreading. I have never seen so many omitted words and just plain wrong words in an established book from major authors working with a serious publisher (and yes, I am counting some of J. Gordon Melton's typo-fests in that number)! For example, the authors switch back and forth between referring to the vampire in NOSFERATU by the character's name and the actor's name (a serious faux pas in film writing). To make matters worse, they then start referring to the vampire as "Orloff," when as any neophyte vampire fan knows the German prints call the character "Orlok"! In fact, while the text misspells the name, the captions get it right! For another example, filmmaker Jeffery Arsenault is referred to as "John" Arsenault in one spot. There are some factual errors that slip in as well, although these tend to be very minor. While I do not wish to come across as a grammar Nazi and am fully aware that a few typos happen to every book (including my own), the fact remains that I almost decided against using the book in class because of these errors. When one spends his days trying to get college students to take proofreading and revision seriously, one tends to get offended when publishers of expensive books fail to engage in basic professionalism.
It is a testament to the high esteem in which I hold this monumental work that I am still going to use it this fall--to say nothing of composing such a lengthy review! I fully realize most Amazon readers don't care about typos and so forth, but in case the authors or the publisher ever read these things, I want them to know about the problems (call me, boys, if you want some help on the 5th edition). In terms of basic information, quality illustrations, and as a resource to complete your quest to see every Dracula movie ever made, THE VAMPIRE FILM is still an essential item for every serious vampire or horror fan's bookshelf.
As great as this book is in many ways, it is not perfect. Evidently the authors had no time or interest in writing about TRUE BLOOD, so they brought in somebody else to contribute an essay on that popular and influential TV show. The essay is more or less okay in terms of being informative, but it is full of smart-ass jokes and snarky comments about the American South where the show is set. Such comments undermine the scholarly tone of the essay, and I personally find the digs at the South and Southerners offensive (calling a white Southerner a "Bubba" is pretty much equivalent to calling a black man a "buck," for those who don't know any better). While Silver and Ursini get away with a few effective light-hearted comments in the text itself, they allow way too many "funny" captions to comment on some of the illustrations, an unfortunate approach that at times recalls Forry Ackerman's worst puns in the heyday of FAMOUS MONSTERS. Some of the discussion of minor films consists of little more than extensive plot summaries, with little in the way of useful critical commentary; moreover,some minor titles get as much attention as major works, even when the minor titles aren't very good or interesting.
These are minor complaints, however, compared to the book's greatest failing: a shameful lack of careful proofreading. I have never seen so many omitted words and just plain wrong words in an established book from major authors working with a serious publisher (and yes, I am counting some of J. Gordon Melton's typo-fests in that number)! For example, the authors switch back and forth between referring to the vampire in NOSFERATU by the character's name and the actor's name (a serious faux pas in film writing). To make matters worse, they then start referring to the vampire as "Orloff," when as any neophyte vampire fan knows the German prints call the character "Orlok"! In fact, while the text misspells the name, the captions get it right! For another example, filmmaker Jeffery Arsenault is referred to as "John" Arsenault in one spot. There are some factual errors that slip in as well, although these tend to be very minor. While I do not wish to come across as a grammar Nazi and am fully aware that a few typos happen to every book (including my own), the fact remains that I almost decided against using the book in class because of these errors. When one spends his days trying to get college students to take proofreading and revision seriously, one tends to get offended when publishers of expensive books fail to engage in basic professionalism.
It is a testament to the high esteem in which I hold this monumental work that I am still going to use it this fall--to say nothing of composing such a lengthy review! I fully realize most Amazon readers don't care about typos and so forth, but in case the authors or the publisher ever read these things, I want them to know about the problems (call me, boys, if you want some help on the 5th edition). In terms of basic information, quality illustrations, and as a resource to complete your quest to see every Dracula movie ever made, THE VAMPIRE FILM is still an essential item for every serious vampire or horror fan's bookshelf.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have been a vampire film fan since watching the Lugosi 1931 'DRACULA' back in the early sixties on Television. I first purchased this book back in 1976 when 'COUNT YORGA,VAMPIRE' was part of the new vampire releases and not too many of the European horrors were released in the states as of yet so there was very little devoted to them. Now in its fourth release, Ursini and Silver have delivered the definitive version ever with all color photographs, extensive and expanded filmography spanning the vampire film output from all countries, and errata from the previous releases all corrected. Starting with a chapter on the history of vampires in fact and literature, they explore the origin of the vampire on stage and the film medium. It starts with 'VARNEY THE VAMPIRE' , the screen adaptations of the DRACULA character in all his incarnations including the HAMMER FILM cycle, the legend and films of the Countess Elizabeth Bathory and vampire off shoots from European cinema such as the Filipino vampire, energy vampires and others. We have updated chapters on European Directors Mario Bava and Jean Rollin, extensive coverage on the newer vampire movie series such as 'BLADE', 'UNDERWORLD' and the 'TWILIGHT' saga and they also cover the television series such as the underrated 'FOREVER KNIGHT', 'BLOOD TIES' , 'DARK SHADOWS'(Both series including the two films) all the way up to 'MOONLIGHT', 'TRUE BLOOD' and 'THE VAMPIRE DIARIES'. If you are a vampire lover or horror fan , click the add to cart button and sink your fangs into this excellent film book. You will have a bloody good time.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book has incredible content. It starts with vampire lore and the general history of vampirism in film, literature, and history, and then delves right into a comprehensive and critical look on vampire films. The book looks at a large variety of films from all over the world; the amount of things that they manage to cover and reference astounds me. Beyond just that, there are many beautiful full color photos of both stills from movies and other artifacts relating, such as posters for the film when it debuted. If you are interested in the subject this is a great place for a lot of information!
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